Buy a Motorhome now - Madness

Buy a motorhome now - Madness! But I did! or rather I am,

If anyone read my hello, you know why we are looking at a MH and are talking to a dealer about a Topaz. We original expressed a high interest in the Topaz but wanted to wait until things settled in the world a bit until we committed, and they went ahead ahead and sold it! Noooo!

However, we had our eye on another one that had been on sale for a while at another dealers. It was a year older for almost the same price and was our second choice, so we went back to the dealer to check it out again, and it was also sold. Noooo x 2  

So people are still snatching up these little vans, maybe for self isolation? who knows, but we lost 2 in as many weeks and there are not many about.

Then by chance the dealers of the first Topaz sent me an email, apparently the buyer had problems with the finance and they enquired if we were still interested before it goes back on the market

Deposit paid! Ooooo!

So if all goes as planned, in a few weeks time we will be able to look at a Topaz on our drive instead of a caravan. That will give us a nice change of scenery

Speak later
Steve

And I bet you will be utterly pathetic and have afternoon tea and biscuits in the new van.    

We did, and still do occasionally, and many others would admit to doing the same. 

Well done. You will never look back as you (one day soon, we hope) sit on a campsite watching newly arrived caravanners wrestling with their huge awnings in a horizontal downpour - which they have to do before anything else or there's no room to get in the van!!

We had caravans for 40 years until we could afford a motorhome. We loved the caravan, but by comparison there's no contest, specially when you start touring in France.

Dave

Steve. Listen to Gromit. He is very wise and what he says is true. We also have lunch in our van on the drive. We watch the news at one on the TV and turn it off after five minutes of gloom....and afternoon tea can be pleasant as well. Our van has the advantage of tinted windows so you can see what is going on in our neighbourhood which is usually not a lot. You’ll soon get the hang of all this.

HAHA yes, and the tea will be in the best china cups with raised pinkies as we have gone up in the world! so funny.

Quite looking forward to it, even though we wont be going anywhere. The Teeny caravan we have is a bit packed with stuff, but we plan on keeping the MH clutter free so we can use it.

The MH will be parked lengthwise across the foot of our property and additional on a downward slope until we can sort out whats the best sort of ramps to get for one side.

This means of course that if I go in via the sliding door I will totter forward and probably face plant into the wife! 

Sounds cosy! but as we are both mid 60's it will only result in creaks and cracks of arthritic joints and cries of "your squashing me!"

Lol, speak later
Steve

MrSteveVee wrote:The MH will be parked lengthwise across the foot of our property and additional on a downward slope until we can sort out whats the best sort of ramps to get for one side.

Steve

Having tried most of them, I would suggest these.  [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

They are very rough on the top surface which greatly helps the van tyres to grip them in the wet, and they are quite deeply profiled so (as the driver) you can feel when the wheel drops into each indentation. This also makes it far less likely that the van will roll off them if the handbrake fails to hold.

They are quite big to store, but I would advise against the cheaper and smaller Fiamma (and similar) types. The tyres tend to skid on them in the wet, and some of them have no indentations at all so it's easy to drive straight over them and damage the van as they rear up underneath. (Also they are not very strong at the thin end, and tend to break if not on perfectly level ground.)

As a certain Frenchman can testify, some types are potentially dangerous. I was levelling up on a tarmac aire when a Fiamma level shot from under the wheel and almost took the poor bu$$er off at the ankle. Fortunately he saw the funny side of it, as he would have been quite seriously hurt if the missile had hit him. It shot out at a heck of a speed!!

Hope this helps.

P.S. To make ours easier to store, Sian has made a bag each for them (nothing very posh!) so they can be carried separately behind the passenger seat. As a pair in their supplied bag they are quite bulky, but separately it's much easier to find a home for them.

Thanks for the tip Gromit, I've bookmarked the page and will get these once the sale goes through

Appreciate the advice
Thanks
Steve

I second that recommendation and agree with the warning not to buy Fiamma wedges, they crack and break. My cousin has the bigger brother ,the Quattro, and actually did drive over the top, so it not impossible to do, it broke the top edge of the ramp but luckily no damage to underside of van.

Hi Steve, welcome to the forum and happy new van. Im assuming as a 2005 it a VW T5 base vehicle? Im a big fan of the VW vans  enjoy.

Yes a T5 Auto, we are getting quite excited about it (well I am, Missus just sighs and puts up with my excited ramblings!)

Dealer said they are starting to ramp up working again and it would be with us within 2-4 weeks

Steve

I actually think now is the perfect time to buy a MH.

You could possibly haggle a good deal if not many people are buying, but to be honest, with the possibility of foreign travel being limited this year, a lot of people may be considering a MH a good investment for a year or two to get their holidays in without too much contact with other people.

The downside of this might be packed campsites when we all finally 'released'.

Paulmold wrote:I second that recommendation and agree with the warning not to buy Fiamma wedges, they crack and break. My cousin has the bigger brother ,the Quattro, and actually did drive over the top, so it not impossible to do, it broke the top edge of the ramp but luckily no damage to underside of van.

In defence of the Fiamma wedges, I’ve had a pair since 2012 and they have served me 100% with a VW T5, Eriba Puck and now the Symbol. They are still as good as new and I drive up on them with ease.

However, if and when they finally give up then I will be getting some Milenco ramps if I can fit them in the Symbol! The Fiamma are just not strong enough for larger vehicles.

Bottom line, the Milenco are much better for most on here but the Fiamma are more compact which is why they are rated in the VW world, they are good quality but just not up to being suitable for heavier vans.

When my Fiamma ones broke I emailed to complain and was told they are meant for caravans. Can't see the difference apart from vehicle weight yet they give a max weight in their spec.

Perhaps we had different ramps Paul, sounds like poor service from Fiamma.
These are the ones (now grey, mine are the yellow) that I have.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I have used both over the years and it really depended on the ground you place them on. If uneven or with hidden stones beneath grass you introduce stresses that they  cannot cope with. Better still cut a few pieces of 6x2 the footprint of a tyre size and put them in the van. Can be placed in small spaces onboard that ramps will not fit into so easier to store. By stacking you can then vary the height easily and also use as  chocks etc Never let me down and cost pennies.

Hello MrSteveVee, and welcome to the Forum.

May I suggest that, from the outset, you may wish to compile an electronic scrap book of helpful tips. Nothing complicated: I simply include anything which may be of relevance to me and to my model of my van in future.

I have a simple document; I give a number to each item pasted. So, for example, I might start with "1. Ramps. Gromit wrote on 6/5/20: Having tried most of them, I would suggest these. >> SEE HERE <<" . Then number 2 might be a helpful tip about Winterisation ... and so on. Then, after a while, I inserted a small table at the head of the document, which lists alphabetically the subject matter, and shows its corresponding number, so it's easy to look up. Periodically, as new numbers and topics are added, so the index is revised.

This is a brilliant Forum. I've had AS motorhomes for more than 30 years and I learn new tricks from the Forum frequently. Members are so helpful and experienced. But unless you are as good as PaulMold, the search facility is not brilliant. Hence my list (called "Nuevo tips gleaned from others."

Now's the time to start - before you can use the MH!

Cymro

As far as ramps are concerned (trust me ramps are not that important before you actually have the van on your drive )
Keep it simple, Fiamma are good, Milenco are better if you have the space for them.
Good luck either way.

Thanks chaps, lots of good info and advice. 
Good idea Cymro, I shall start one straight away

Its amazing how some of the simplest things become a major puzzle to a MH newbie. Thanks to you guys I now know what I need for levelling a MH, then when talking to the wife about the shower she asked "How do you fill the water tanks" ? 

Good question. I have no idea. Our van has a submersible pump that you put into an aquaroll parked outside the van. But a MH has internal tanks.

So it's back to good old Youtube to see what to do lol. Exciting times
Steve

Well, I've just bought my 2nd Warwick Duo, now named Froggie 4!
Hasn't arrived yet as it can't be delivered nor the traded in Harmony collected, but it'll be here one day.
2013 plate, white gold, my favourite, and just 23000 miles, one prev owner. Not a fingerprint on it, this one I will keep, selling Froggie 2, the previous Warwick was a big mistake, but hey, we can't be right all the time!!
Hope all well and keeping safe
IanH

What happened to Froggy3 and why another Warwick if the first was a mistake? So many questions that are none of my business ! But the curiosity burns

Err, I think he said 'SELLING' it was a big mistake.

Oops! Wonder if I can get a new pair of eyeballs and a second hand brain on the national health!

Good point

Froggie 2 was not a mistake, we just decided to down size from 6m to 5m and bought the Harmony
Nice enough truck but simply didn't get on with it, particularly beds
So I traded it in against another Warwick Duo.
As an engineer, if something doesn't work for me it never will, so it had to go.

MrSteveVee wrote:Oops! Wonder if I can get a new pair of eyeballs and a second hand brain on the national health!

I saw some brains for sale recently

First was a highly distinguished medical scientist with more degrees that a thermometer, it was just £10
Second was from a politician, priced at £2000.
When I asked why the politician one was so expensive, the answer was............................it's never been used!!!!!!!

IanH wrote:

MrSteveVee wrote:Oops! Wonder if I can get a new pair of eyeballs and a second hand brain on the national health!

I saw some brains for sale recently

First was a highly distinguished medical scientist with more degrees that a thermometer, it was just £10
Second was from a politician, priced at £2000.
When I asked why the politician one was so expensive, the answer was............................it's never been used!!!!!!!

 Oh yes

[quote="MrSteveVee"]Thanks chaps, lots of good info and advice. 
Good idea Cymro, I shall start one straight away

Its amazing how some of the simplest things become a major puzzle to a MH newbie. Thanks to you guys I now know what I need for levelling a MH, then when talking to the wife about the shower she asked "How do you fill the water tanks" ? 

Good question. I have no idea. Our van has a submersible pump that you put into an aquaroll parked outside the van. But a MH has internal tanks.

So it's back to good old Youtube to see what to do lol. Exciting times
Steve[/quote]



Welcome! You will/ should get a comprehensive hand over where all the workings will be explained. Good to write your own list too....and take notepad to write down the answers! 

I can imagine these times are a buyers market therefore not a sellers market. Good deals to be done!